Just like that, the semester is quickly coming to a close. For me, this year seems to be ending just as soon as it began – this school year, quite literally, having been the quickest yet. It’s hard to believe that my four years in Ottawa have already gone by; I would not change my experiences here for the world.

I would like to extend a huge thank you, Ottawa, for giving me a warm welcome in opening up your doors to me, and for presenting me with the wide breadth of opportunities that I was able to involve myself in over the past four years. This city, small but mighty, has allowed me to grow, mature, challenge myself, open my mind, open my heart, and become a true leader. [Read more…]

My peers and I are at a time in our lives that is pivotal in forming our identities and value systems. It is a very crucial period where the experiences we choose to take part in (or not take part in), the people we choose to date or associate ourselves with, and the courses we take in university hold an extraordinary influence on our present and future selves.

I believe that one’s university career and early young professional life carry the potential to make or break one’s Jewish identity and pride. I witness it regularly in my circle of friends. Some from very secular, unaffiliated backgrounds with minimal Jewish education come to university, find Jewish student organizations such as Hillel Ottawa or the Chabad Student Network that make them feel a part of something larger and important, and take Judaism to the extreme. [Read more…]

Many of you are aware of the recent disturbing decisions of a university to defend a mural they categorize as “artwork” despite its conveying a very clear hateful message.

The mural in the Student Centre at York University depicts a Palestinian holding rocks (which are frequently used by Palestinians as weapons) while staring at an Israeli vehicle. In the mural, the Palestinian is wearing a scarf featuring a map of Palestine that seemingly forgets to include Israel. The mural creates a toxic, frightening environment on campus. It fosters ignorance and encourages a great divide amongst York’s diverse student population. [Read more…]

Despite the sub-zero temperatures Ottawa is accustomed to at this time of year, January marks a really exciting, beautiful, transformative occasion for students. It is the beginning of a new (secular) calendar year, ripe with possibilities for new opportunities and beginnings. As we come back from our winter vacations, we are given the chance to reflect on the past year and search for ways to better ourselves. The improvements we strive for – commonly referred to as “new year’s resolutions – allow us to decide on some small (or large) changes aimed at improving our health, happiness and overall wellbeing.

I would like to imagine that, should I ask a large group of Jewish university students about their new year’s resolutions and how well those resolutions are being maintained, I would be confident that their most important resolutions would be for greater Jewish campus life involvement. Luckily for all of us students, Ottawa’s Jewish student life is into another bustling semester! [Read more…]

The past couple of months have been difficult in Israel. With arbitrary attacks, and deaths of innocent people, it has been an unnerving and unsettling time. Combine the horrible reality with the disgraceful way that mainstream media frames the narrative of the conflict, and you get an absolutely enraging situation.

Jewish people in the Diaspora have been sitting on the edge of their seat throughout all this, anxious to check the news and learn about the latest attacks. Paradoxically, international Jewish unity tends to be at its strongest during troubling times. It often takes the worst to happen for Jewish people of all levels of observance to put their differences aside and stand up for the common goal: to advocate for and to protect Israel as best we can.

But that’s just it. What all of us – students in particular – tend to struggle with is determining how we can best defend a land we all love and care for so much without physically being there. [Read more…]

If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the past few years that I can be certain of, it’s that life never fails to throw you curve balls, constantly changing your plans, requiring you to adjust accordingly. These curve balls, unexpected changes to our plans, carry the potential to have both positive and negative effects on our lives. [Read more…]

The semester is quickly coming to a close and many students are faced with an array of exciting – and possibly overwhelming – options for the upcoming years. As the next chapters of our lives beckon, we have the unique privilege of deciding what journey we wish to embark on next. From various conversations I’ve had with peers, I understand that, for many, university graduation is accompanied by anxieties and worries for the future, and many graduating students are still trying to figure out their next moves. [Read more…]

This week marks a substantial change in the overall tone on campus with regards to attitudes towards Israel with Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW), arguably the worst week of the year on campus for Jewish students, about to take place. The week will bring out visible tensions and divisions on university campuses, creating feelings of widespread discomfort and uncertainty for Jewish students. [Read more…]